A Mother's Unconditional Love
by Kristen3
Summary: On David's birthday, Daphne insists on making a cake herself. But things don't go as planned. One-shot.


Daphne could hardly wait for her cake to come out of the oven. Despite Niles' frequent reminders that they could easily buy something from a bakery, Daphne had insisted upon making a cake for her son's birthday herself. She explained that, as the only girl in her family, she never quite got the same amount of attention as her brothers did when it came to birthdays. Now that she had a family of her own, she wanted to make sure David felt special on his day. One of the ways she wanted to do that was making this cake, no matter what it took.

David had invited a half-dozen of his classmates over for a party. Daphne very much wanted to make a good impression on them. She knew all too well how these things could easily hurt a child's social standing. When she was growing up, she was constantly ridiculed because her family was so poor. Though David was anything but poor, Daphne wanted to make sure his friends wouldn't have reason to tease him. The kids would be here any minute now, and the cake was just about ready.

Suddenly, the ding of the oven timer brought Daphne's mind to the present. Here was the moment of truth. She knew she was no great cook. But Daphne had followed the recipe carefully, and she hoped she could at least make a decent cake. However, when she pulled the cake out of the oven, she saw that her reputation was still in place. The cake hadn't risen as it was supposed to. One side was distinctly lower than the other. There wasn't even a way to hide it. Even with icing, this would be clearly noticeable. How could this have happened?

Just when Daphne was ready to cry, David entered the kitchen. "Hey, Mom. How's the cake coming?"

Daphne looked at him, not sure what to say. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"What's wrong?" David came closer, seeing the tears in his mother's eyes.

Wordlessly, Daphne held out the cake for his inspection. "I wanted your day to be special. I wanted you to know I loved you enough to bake this from scratch instead of getting something from a bakery."

David couldn't help staring at the cake in shock. He knew his mom wasn't perfect, but he'd never expected this. What would his friends think when they saw it? But before David could say any of that out loud, he looked again at his mother. He could see how upset she was. "Don't cry, Mom. It's OK."

Daphne didn't know how to respond when she felt David's tiny hand on her back. How could he be comforting her? She'd ruined his day.

David saw the disbelief on his mother's face. "Really, Mom, it's OK. Even if it's not perfect."

Daphne smiled at her son. He really was such a good boy. "I thought I could do this," she said. "I really did."

David pulled his mother into a side-hug, being careful not to further damage the cake. "Remember when I missed that game-winning catch in my Little League game last year? I was so upset that I let everyone down. But you and Dad told me it was OK, because I did the best I could. And even when things don't go like you hoped, you shouldn't get upset. Because even when you try your best, things don't work out."

The memory played in Daphne's mind as if it were yesterday. David had been devastated. He'd wanted to prove to his dad and his grandpa that he could be a good baseball player. And all though he'd shown himself to be a decent hitter, he knew all anyone would remember was the way he allowed the other team to score the winning run. But Niles had consoled his son by telling David that he'd already done much better than his father just by going out there. Both Niles and Daphne had made it clear to the boy that effort mattered more than the outcome of the game. But, until now, Daphne hadn't realized her son had taken the lesson to heart. She put the cake down on top of the stove and took David in her arms. "I love you so much. I know this cake isn't really all that special, but I want you to know I did it because I love you."

David pulled out of the embrace and smiled at her. "I know that," he said, rolling his eyes. "You didn't have to bake me a cake to tell me."

Daphne laughed. David was so much like Niles in so many ways, but them again, he showed a bit of the Moon family once in a while, too. "We won't serve the cake right away when your friends get here. There's still time for your father to run out to a bakery and get something if you want. I'll understand."

David looked again at the cake. There was no hiding the fact it wasn't close to what a professional could do. It was even what most of his friends' moms could do. His class had had several bake sales, and he'd seen what the other mothers made. For a moment, David considered taking his mother's offer. It would be easy to avoid his friends' comments. But his mom did so much for him. And he knew she had worked hard on this cake. If his friends thought it was stupid, well, maybe that was their problem. "No," he said. "This one's fine."

"Are you sure?" Daphne could believe it. She knew how cruel kids could be, and she'd never make David show this cake to his friends.

David nodded. "Yeah. My friends probably won't care what the cake looks like, as long as it tastes good!" He laughed. The statement was a bit of a lie. There was no way anyone could ignore something like this. But whatever teasing there might be, David knew he could handle it. Because no matter what, it wouldn't change the simple fact that his mother loved him.

**The End**


End file.
